Not everyone is cut out for being a teacher. First and foremost, a teacher should be a role model. If the teacher wants certain results, then the modern day teacher needs to speak, act, and intrigue the students in such a way so as to acquire the desired result. This can hold true with the discipline and the teaching instruction itself. I believe it takes a very special person to be able to convey all this information in an appropriate manner so that the students get the highest possible benefit out of learning. When the student leaves the classroom they should know and understand the science well enough to be able to apply it to their everyday lives to a certain degree. Just because all kids may not think like scientists doesn't mean we can't attempt to promote scientific thought. It also doesn't mean that they can't be scientists. My goal as a teacher is to give them a glimpse into the world through the eyes of a scientist.
The sciences are a marvelous thing and not everybody has a knack for science. The children who don't have that knack for science are the ones that will challenge our ability as teachers to show them what science is. I want them to see the story behind the numbers and show them how science can be applied in their very own lives. Visuals are a great way to get students to see what might be going on down on some of the smallest microscopic levels. It's such an abstract concept that explaining the idea verbally just can't get the job done. Also, by clarifying misconceptions that the students may have I hope to get them interested, I want them to wonder, "What else may there be that I always thought I was right about?" By getting them actively engaged in questioning themselves they will pick up concepts and ideas that are essential to scientific learning and understanding.
The teacher can be one of the students best tools for learning how to think like a scientist. Just calculating the numbers to achieve a result is not thinking like a scientist, the same calculations can be done multiple times and the result will always be the same. There is no creative thought in number crunching and the idea is to nurture creativity. Science needs a little bit of imagination sometimes which the teacher can help foster. Many brilliant ideas, which were thought of through the use of a scientists imagination and creative views, are first laughed at by the scientific community before they come to realize and accept it as the truth. The teacher needs to promote unique & individualistic thinking. If a student thinks like everybody else thinks then how are they supposed to come up with new, fresh, and young ideas? The idea is to get them thinking in ways they maybe never have before.
As mentioned earlier, Not everyone is cut out for being a teacher. But with that statement I'm only covering half the necessary bases. Not everyone is also cut out for being a science teacher. We are a rare breed; the science teacher. My goal is to teach science by getting students to think like scientists; Question everything, don't settle for less than par, and think differently. If I can get the students thinking along these lines then I believe conceptual understanding will begin to come naturally.
The sciences are a marvelous thing and not everybody has a knack for science. The children who don't have that knack for science are the ones that will challenge our ability as teachers to show them what science is. I want them to see the story behind the numbers and show them how science can be applied in their very own lives. Visuals are a great way to get students to see what might be going on down on some of the smallest microscopic levels. It's such an abstract concept that explaining the idea verbally just can't get the job done. Also, by clarifying misconceptions that the students may have I hope to get them interested, I want them to wonder, "What else may there be that I always thought I was right about?" By getting them actively engaged in questioning themselves they will pick up concepts and ideas that are essential to scientific learning and understanding.
The teacher can be one of the students best tools for learning how to think like a scientist. Just calculating the numbers to achieve a result is not thinking like a scientist, the same calculations can be done multiple times and the result will always be the same. There is no creative thought in number crunching and the idea is to nurture creativity. Science needs a little bit of imagination sometimes which the teacher can help foster. Many brilliant ideas, which were thought of through the use of a scientists imagination and creative views, are first laughed at by the scientific community before they come to realize and accept it as the truth. The teacher needs to promote unique & individualistic thinking. If a student thinks like everybody else thinks then how are they supposed to come up with new, fresh, and young ideas? The idea is to get them thinking in ways they maybe never have before.
As mentioned earlier, Not everyone is cut out for being a teacher. But with that statement I'm only covering half the necessary bases. Not everyone is also cut out for being a science teacher. We are a rare breed; the science teacher. My goal is to teach science by getting students to think like scientists; Question everything, don't settle for less than par, and think differently. If I can get the students thinking along these lines then I believe conceptual understanding will begin to come naturally.